Iranian propaganda has crossed another sinister line \u2014 this time placing First Lady Melania Trump and her 20-year-old son, Barron, in its crosshairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tasnim News Agency, an outlet closely associated with Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, released a disturbing video Monday encouraging attacks against the president\u2019s wife and threatening that Barron could be next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The roughly two-minute clip opens with a bloody image of Melania alongside the words, \u201cWhere to Kill Melania?!\u201d It then purports to track her movements through New York City, displaying footage of her motorcade and making claims about her security arrangements and personal routines, according to The Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The video calls on supporters of the Islamic Republic and so-called \u201cglobal freedom fighters\u201d to take action against the First Lady.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It closes with an even more chilling warning: \u201cThis is just the beginning. Barron Trump, wait for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian state television outlet RT helped spread the propaganda on social media, claiming that the video revealed routes and routines using information obtained from \u201canonymous security networks,\u201d Mediaite reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much of the material, however, appears to have been compiled from publicly available information and wrapped in menacing graphics intended to make the threat appear more sophisticated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Secret Service confirmed Tuesday that it is examining the video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nate Herring, an agency spokesman, told Newsweek that the Secret Service investigates \u201canything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOut of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence,\u201d Herring added, according to The Independent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Melania and Barron receive full-time Secret Service protection, and the Trump family\u2019s residences are heavily secured, according to the New York Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither the White House nor the First Lady\u2019s office had publicly responded to the video as of Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fox News host Mark Levin condemned the clip after it began circulating online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Iranian regime continues to threaten the assassination of Trump family members,\u201d Levin wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The threat is not an isolated piece of Tehran\u2019s increasingly grotesque propaganda campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Days earlier, billboards appeared along a highway in Tehran depicting fabricated images of Melania, Barron and Ivanka Trump as corpses. The word \u201cKILLED\u201d was splashed across the images alongside the warning, \u201cHey, terrorist! Get ready to die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another display placed portraits of President Trump, his wife and all five of his children above American flag-draped coffins under the message \u201cBlood for Blood.\u201d Other regime-linked artwork has depicted Trump dead or staring down the sights of a rifle, the Post reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some Iranian propaganda has veered into the bizarre, including AI-generated videos featuring Lego-like versions of Trump and other world leaders. But the regime\u2019s history of pursuing assassination plots on American soil means its latest threat cannot be dismissed as another crude cartoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In March, a federal jury convicted Asif Merchant, an Iranian intelligence operative who entered the United States to arrange political assassinations on behalf of the IRGC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Merchant contacted people he believed could serve as hired killers, discussed possible attacks and paid a $5,000 advance before being arrested. The supposed hitmen were undercover law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Justice Department said Merchant understood that Trump could be the eventual target of the plot, which was intended to avenge the 2020 killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis man landed on American soil hoping to kill President Trump,\u201d Attorney General Pam Bondi said following Merchant\u2019s conviction, according to the Justice Department<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump has said Iran considers him its top target and has publicly warned Tehran that any attempt on his life would trigger overwhelming retaliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m the No. 1, because they\u2019re scum,\u201d Trump told reporters earlier this month. \u201cThat\u2019s the way they act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The president later wrote that the U.S. military had received orders to \u201ccompletely decimate and destroy\u201d Iran if the regime attempted to assassinate him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest threat emerged as Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House to discuss the Iran war and possible negotiations with Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even as Trump considers giving diplomacy another chance, the Iranian regime appears determined to send a different message \u2014 one aimed directly at his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n